The Knudsen Krew: Here's How I Manage Scouts

I grew up with sisters and so when my first son started cub scouts I felt pretty lost and overwhelmed by all of the scouting lingo, patches, requirements, merit badges, and uniforms, you name it, it was all new to me. I had a hard time staying organized and keeping track of my son's progress. I didn't know what came first, wolf or bear or what was required, or where to put those patches where on his uniform. Even sewing the patches on the uniform was hard for me.

Now 10 years later...I have waded through much trial and error and have come up with some things that have helped me keep track of 5 (so far) boys' progress in cub scouts and boy scouts and just make everything work much better.

First of all, I have this binder for my cub scouts. In this binder, I keep a record sheet for each of my boys. I take this binder with me to every pack meeting and update the records right while I am sitting there.

In this binder I also keep information about what is required to earn belt loops and pins, and what is required to earn patches that are unique to our area. This really helps me take advantage of any activities we do as a family that can help my boys progress in scouts. Half the battle is just knowing what your son can work on. And so many things just fit into the activities we do already anyway.

Here are those all important record sheets ...that keep things so well organized and make everything run more smoothly. I was given this by a very smart and clever friend. Since then I have seen similar record sheets at the Scouting supply store and also several versions here . So download one you like and use it! It will change your world.

Now, you know how at pack meeting you go home with those important patches and merit badges your son was just awarded. I am not sure what you do with your's until they get sewn onto a uniform, but I would put mine in a "special place" until I could get to them. (like my jewelry box or box in my desk) Then a month later I would run across these patches, belt loops, merit badges and panic a little because I had forgotten about them and even sometimes I had a hard time remembering which award belonged to whom.

Oh stress~ !

So now here is what I do. Each of my boys gets one of these plastic folders when they start cub scouts. This plastic envelope holds their patches, rank advancement badges, merit badges etc. until they get placed on their uniforms. I come home from pack meeting or a Court of Honor and put their awards here first thing. Then I write a note in my planner to update their uniforms. No more mix ups!

I keep these plastic file folders in a filing cabinet, nice, neat and I know where exactly where everything is when I need it. So much less stress......

This can also be a place to keep those extra patches that don't go on the uniform but are fun to have and can be put into a gift like this later.

For my Boy Scouts I also include a record sheet like this in the plastic envelope so I can see where each boy is on their trail to EAGLE. This is their W.A.I. record or "Where Am I?" on the trail to Eagle. Each of our boy scouts also has a copy of this in their own binder. They take care of their binder but just in case, I have a copy of their boy scout record in their plastic envelope.

To make putting badges on uniforms a snap, I also have a photo copy of the uniform for boy scouts and one for cub scouts on the other side in the plastic envelope so with a quick glance I know what to put where.

For several years I tried to sew patches on uniforms. I usually ended up frustrated because the patch would pucker here or there or end up sewn on a little crooked. This usually resulted in procrastinating sewing patches on, which was sad sad sad and unfair to my boys.

Then I found this amazing stuff! It is badge magic and I think they sell it at every scouting supply store. You simply place the badge on the badge magic sheet, trace around it, cut the traced shape out......

peel the paper off, press the badge onto the sticky paper side,

peel the other side off and press the badge onto the uniform. Then place the uniform in the dryer for about 10 min to set the glue and wah lah the patch is on the uniform. And it looks perfect!